Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-10-14

dlonB somehow through our cold FranCOu
winters. Sometimes find 'em stickin' {
the rafters, or snuggled two or three 70
gether in hole between the stones o tn
wall there, or inside the shed, or in tn
wood pile, lookin' 5 if they was dead A
door nails But come to bring em in b.
the fire, or hold EN- a spell in my hands
they come TO life agin. An warm sunni
days they'll go crawlin' round an in tn,
spring, when the frost goes out o. TIN
ground, an the weather gets settled, the,
come out for good. But they're prett,
hard-lookin' then, an they don't live lonl
arter layin' their eggs, an the second crol
don't come round till along the fust o. Au
gust or thereabouts
What is its name y | asked.
"Waal, don't know this one by his fust
name he's a stranger TO me-come from
further down the road guess The fam
ly name give EN- is Tough, cause they
stan the cold so well, but | don't know ali
their given names Lily an Nary Ann
spent the winter under the stone out ther,
by the wall an Caleb staid in the shed, but
I've lost sight Of 'em now, thoughn Cooking
around toward the garden) II thought /
see Wilbur Jest now out by the fence"
Shades Of Linneus and Hubner forgive
her ! ldneSsd dntiOpd vulgarized into Ma
ry Ann Tough
And so she lived on, surrounded by her
insect friends, loving them, understanding
them, calling each one by his Christian
name, and quite happy in their society
There was big dragon-hy with spotted
| wings whom she addressed as Horace and
who, she declared, had followed her weeks
ago all the way from Streeter's Pond as she
drove home with her old mare and the
buck board. And as she dwelt upon the
| salient points of his character, his sense of
humor and comical disposition, while he
whizzed about her head, | declare he did
| look to me quite unlike other dragon flies
| seemed TO see a humorous twinkle in his
| big eyes, and for the moment firmly be
| lieved in Horace's sense of the ridiculous
Aunt Randy and | soon became warm
friends, and it was not long before she told
me her story. | need not dwell upon the
early part of it, Her married life was a
hard one, her husband a shiftless, idle vag-
abond She did not apply these epithets.
but the facts spoke for themselves She
worked hard, and he spent her earnings at
the tavern. They had one child boy, and
to him the mothers heart clung as to moth
| ing else in earth or heaven. For his sake
she struggled on, bore her husbands neg
! lect and Ill treatment, worked for all three
| and kept some little remnant of faith and
hope in her heart. At last one winters
day her husband went away and never re
| turned. Some weeks later she heard Of his
| death, and was free. just then a distant
relative, of whom She had lost sight for
many years, died and left her little mon
| ey. So new hope sprang up in her chilled
heart. She would take the child, she
thought buy a little place in soue quiet vii
lage, and leave her wretched past far be
hind her. Alas for human hopes Just as
the little house in Franconia was secured
and she was about TO remove there with
her child. the boy sickened and died
If ! should write pages | could not CON
yev to you, as the few abrupt words Of this
| patient, undemonstrative New England
woman conveyed to me, all the tragic
meaning of that loss TO her. As child
she had lived in a Christian home, and had
some religious training, and anIidst all her
trials hitherto she had tried i'll her poor
blind way to believe and trust and think
| that somehow things were for the best
But now, with this terrible blow, all faith
in God and man was killed. She buried
| the boy with no more thought or hope of
future reunion than has the veriest heather,
| left his grave and their old home-a grave,
| too, now in which all hope and faith were
entomhed-and came TO Franconia. where
| she lived for months the solitary life of
which Nathan had told me, misanthropic,
hopeless soul. Let me try nov to tell you
in Aunt Randy's own words, as near as may
be, how the change came.
II used 10 shet myself up here all dav
an think | couldn't have no Posy gard'n or
anything like that, now the little Teller
want here to play in it. An l couldn't
bear to hear the birds Singiu', cause he
| n sod To Ia ny 4 .la
eyes as went along SOS not to see the VII
lets an dand lions am butter n eggs, an
them pOsies he used to pick an fetch in to
me in his little fat hands But one day /
had to 90 down the road piece, Of an er-
rand, an before | could help it keteht sight
of big clump O tire-weed Shipin all pink
in the sun. Now fre-weed was my boys
fav'rite posy; il srowed all round our
house in North Woodstock, an he used to
| pick il an fetch in big lunches on it, an
set EN- in the old blue pitcher. He was
drettie fond o that plant, an when l see it
well, it all come over me 50, | iest bust
out cryin' in the road, an | was fraid
somebody d see me, 10 l had TO stop an
purtend | was looein' at the posies An
as | was stoopln' down a-lookin an tryin'
| to got my handk chief out, see big worm
on the fre-weed. Twant crawlin' or eat
in, but jest settin' up on its hind legs in
the humanest way, with its head up an its
hands out, an You'll think I'm an old
fool, but what with the water in my eyes
and the sun a-dazzlin' me, an my heart
just breakin' for that boy, why, l kinder
| thought that worm favored the youns ane,
an | felt the queerest DRAWN To it. l
reached out my finger to poke il, an it put
down its head an dr0wed its chin in for all
the world Eko that boy when he was scaret
an lashful l tell We, from that minpit
'dOpted that creeter an took him right in
ter my heart. | hadn't cared for livin'
thing afore sence that little coffin went out
my front gat6, an tell We twas good to
feel that drawin' toward suthin'. picked
the plant he was on an carried him home
Jest S careful, an then | fixed box q dirt
AN stuck the plant in, an jest lot il alone
till he'd got kind Of acquainted like. But
dear me he made friends to once he new
er tried ~ get away he never was off his
vittles from the mint he come. The fust
time ! see him eat, my heart come right up
in my mouth, he ct so like my boy. iess hit
in little bites right reg lar raWNd an round
half a cent hke the boyd do with his
cooky, lnamed him Jacob after the other
an Oh, can't tell ye what a comfort
he was TO me l hadn't had no pervidm
to do for so long, but now had to go down
the road every single mornin' an get fresh
fire-weed for Jacob 10 eat | put a cup o.
water for him too, but | neyeg see him
drink. l guess he licked the water off the
leaves, for | used to wet 'em to make EN-
tasty an temptin'. Another thing that
made him look like the boy was his color.
He was kind O. blacky- with round
pink spots on his sides, for all the world like
my other Jacob in his little tight Jacket
with the glass buttQpa made for him outer
my old Invisible green dress, And he had
little pink face, an he used 10 look up at
me so peart an KNOWN when I'd talk to
him. Twas II new thing to me, after all
them lonesome months, to have some one at
home waitin for me when | was out, an |
used to hurry back S quick : could Jest S
if the boy was wAtchH' at the winder with
his pretty little nose all fiat agin the glass
Il had ii stick stan'in up in his box. an
a big piece o mosquiter nettin' over it like
tent, but | only KEEP it shet down whom
was out an nights, for didpt want him
to think he was locked up an every night
at bedtime I'd ~ an draw down that net
tin snug am tie a string round the bottom,
an look in last thing to see if he was all
right. You'd scarcely b'ieve how that
tuckin' in helped me after I'd been without
it such a spell.
Twas gettin late in the season-'twas
the fust day o September took him-an' ]
begun to think about the winter, an how l
should make Jacob comfortable, ! thought
I'd move inter the front bedroom, where
there was stove, an take him right in
there TO sleep An as for food, why, I'd
dig up lot o fre-weed an set it out in
pots, an keep him in vittles Till spring, I'd
found by this time that he wouldn't eat
nothin' else he was real set in his ways l
tried him on the incest things-rose leaves,
an buttercups, an lavender, an diffant
YARDS but he'd Jest smell at em an turn
away, an look for his fire weed. That was